“You’re not talking wimpy thin wood here,” says Hi-Fi World of Devon-based Timestep’s T-01HS ebony headshell. Which “gives you confidence,” since “a typical cartridge reacts to the tiniest movements and any micro-flexing in a headshell will react negatively with it.”

Machined from a solid block of ebony and weighing in at 15g, the T-01HS is particularly useful for low compliance cartridges, and comes with a set of four custom-made headshell leads in pure silver.

Hi-Fi World loaded it with an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze “to see what happened”. What happened was that the sonic change from the reviewer’s reference headshell was “frankly, immense”.“It lent real weight to the singing, giving the delivery gravitas… the upright bass solidified and focused…” blending “an organic feel to the bottom end but alongside that a crisp, powerful impact.”

“The Timestep T-01HS ebony headshell allows the music to speak with great confidence, giving the soundstage a commanding influence.”